Ted Cruz Still in the News

Yes, Ted Cruz’ “non-endorsement endorsement” of Donald Trump is “last week’s news,” but Cruz has made headlines since then, which is what he always wants, anyway. You probably heard that Cruz said he was “voting for” Trump, but that’s not the same as promoting Trump, especially since he made it clear that he just wants to defeat Hillary Clinton, as Cruz wrote in Facebook.

This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election. . .After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word. Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary Clinton is wholly unacceptable — that’s why I have always been #NeverHillary.

That’s what’s technically known as “damned with faint praise.” But is that the whole story? Republican Chairman Reince Priebus, shall we say, “encouraged” Cruz to endorse, but according to NewsMax, Priebus doesn’t like calling it a “threat,” as he said on Fox News.

“My comments weren’t a threat,” Priebus told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Sunday afternoon. “Just basically, look, folks have given their word and, in some cases, in multiple documents, not just a pledge but a date-exchange agreement. Some haven’t signed it, some have.”

Last week, though, Priebus told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it was time for Trump’s former primary rivals to support his campaign, or face trouble from the party in 2020 or 2024 if they refuse.. [Emphasis added]

“Those people need to get on board,” he told the program last Sunday. “And if they’re thinking they’re going to run again someday, I think that we’re going to evaluate the process – of the nomination process and I don’t think it’s going to be easy for them.” [Emphasis added]

On Friday, just days after Priebus’ statement, Cruz agreed to support Trump.

Cruz actually profited by not endorsing Trump. “Profit” as in made money.

Just six weeks after he dropped out – and more than a month before Cruz would dramatically snub the nominee at the Republican National Convention – the senator quietly began renting his vast donor email file to his former rival, pocketing at least tens of thousands of dollars, and more likely hundreds of thousands, that can be used to bankroll the Texan’s own political future.

Trump began paying to solicit some of Cruz’s supporters for campaign cash as early as June 17. . . Since he exited the presidential race in May, Cruz’s campaign committee has reported a total of roughly $290,000 in list rental income, Federal Election Commission records show. . .

The buying and selling of email addresses is standard fare in modern politics — but less typical among bitter rivals. After Cruz failed to back Trump at the convention, he told the Texas delegation he would not “go like a servile puppy dog” and simply endorse after Trump had “slandered” his family.

Another way that Trump tried to “buy” Cruz’ support was to say he might nominate Cruz’ friend, Mike Lee to the Supreme Court, The Blaze says.

Lee spokesman Conn Carroll told Roll Call that “Trump did not speak to Lee about this. . .Sen. Lee already has the job he wants which is why he is campaigning to represent the great people of Utah again this year,” Carroll said.

Lee, who previously backed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for president, has so far declined to endorse Trump. Lee told the Washington Examiner in May that Trump “scares me to death.”

Fox News commentator, Charles Krauthammer, disgustedly says this is “business as usual,” according to The Blaze.

“Remember, he and Trump were the outsiders, and what was their calling card from the very beginning? We don’t act like the Washington insiders, we don’t scratch each other’s back, we speak our conscience,” he said. “Well, it turns out they’d do what you’d expect of any other candidate.”

“This is business as usual,” he continued, “but weren’t they the candidates who were against the business as usual?. . .This is politics,” Krauthammer remarked. “This is exactly what you’d expect, but it is not how they sold themselves.”

Glenn Beck isn’t happy about it. . .“Profoundly sad day for me,” the radio and TV show host wrote in a Facebook post Friday. “Disappointment does not begin to describe. Maybe it is time to go to the mountains for a while.”

In July, when it appeared Cruz was going to stand firm on his decision not to support Trump, Beck praised the move as “amazing” and “a turning point” in American politics.

Many of Cruz’s supporters took to Twitter following his announcement Friday to share their disapproval with his decision. One of those who has traditionally been on Cruz’s side tweeted his sentiment by sharing Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker’s 1989 song “I Won’t Back Down.”

That person was conservative superstar Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.), who is a firm member of the #NeverTrump movement.

The two men had a contentious relationship on the campaign trail as they battled for the GOP nod. Aside from trading jabs, Trump told supporters at his party’s July convention that he would not accept an endorsement from Cruz should it come.

“He’ll come and endorse because he has no choice. But I don’t want his endorsement,” Trump said after Cruz’s snub at the convention. “What difference does it make? I don’t want it.”

As noted above, Cruz’ statement was not exactly a ringing endorsement of Trump. In fact, he still can’t say that Trump is fit to be president, according to The Blaze.

One day after his endorsement of Republican nominee Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declined to answer whether or not he believes the billionaire businessman is fit to serve as president. Cruz, who was attending the Texas Tribune festival in Austin, Texas, was asked by Tribune reporter Evan Smith directly whether or not he thinks Trump measures up.

“Do you consider Donald Trump to be fit to be president?” Smith asked Cruz.

“I think we have one of two choices,” Cruz replied. According to the Tribune, Cruz did not expand on his answer.

Evans also asked Cruz whether or not he meant some of the former insults he launched at Trump during the primaries, including the times he labeled Trump a “serial philanderer,” a “pathological liar” and “utterly immoral.”

“I have had many, many disagreements with Donald Trump, some of which you have cataloged. And I have not been at all reluctant to articulate exactly why I believe that I should be the nominee instead of him,” Cruz said.

And, finally, with the obvious enmity Cruz still has for Trump, why did he go ahead and say he’d vote for him? RealClearPolitics probably has the answer:

U.S. News & World Report journalist David Catanese said Ted Cruz had to “get on board” and endorse Donald Trump for president because he is in danger of losing the primary for his seat in the U.S. Senate.

“He is in trouble in his home state of Texas in a re-election battle where he is now behind Rick Perry, if he were to challenge him in the Texas Senate primary–and [is] tied with the Castro brother,” Catanese reported.

Goethe Behr is a Contributing Editor and Moderator at Election Central. He started out posting during the 2008 election, became more active during 2012, and very active in 2016. He has been a political junkie since the 1950s and enjoys adding a historical perspective.